Pneumatic tire mounted vehicles such as automobiles and trucks are commonly shipped by rail, truck and boat. Hold-down apparatus is employed to stabilize the vehicles during shipment, and commonly, such hold-down apparatus includes chains connected to the vehicle frame or under-structure and the floor or deck of the supporting vehicle tensioned by levers, reels, turnbuckles or the like. Such apparatus may also employ chocks bearing against the lower region of the tires.
Hold-down systems consisting of chains or the like interposed between the vehicle frame and the supporting deck usually exert such a downward force upon the vehicle as to "bottom out" the vehicle suspension system and render the suspension system ineffective with respect to the absorbing of shocks and vibrations. Hold-down systems of this type which render the vehicle suspension system inoperative are undesirable in view of the present extensive use of computers and other relatively sensitive electronic equipment which is adversely affected by vibration and impact, but which is, normally, protected from such impact and vibration by the vehicle suspension. Rendering the vehicle suspension inoperative often results in damage to such sensitive vehicle components during shipping.
A vehicle hold-down system has been proposed for stabilizing and firmly positioning pneumatic tire vehicles on the deck of a shipping vehicle wherein the vehicle suspension is utilized to cushion the vehicle and its associated components with respect to the supporting deck. Such a system utilizes chocks to prevent rotation of the tires, and a harness extending over the upper portion of the tire holds the tire firmly to the deck, but does not adversely affect the vehicle suspension movement.
Such hold-down systems solely engaging the vehicle tires require that the chocks and harness he removed when releasing the secured vehicle, and the hold-down components must be stored when not in use. The time required to assemble the chocks and holddown harness, and the ease with which these components may be assembled becomes significant from a cost and safety standpoint, and present systems of this type can be significantly improved.
It is an object of the invention to provide a vehicle holddown system by retaining vehicle tires wherein a flexible harness is tightly drawn down upon the vehicle tire, and the harness is attached to tire chocks located upon opposite sides of the tire wherein a winding buckle or winch is used to tension the harness, and wherein the winch is of a light, concise configuration, mounted upon a chock in a self-aligning manner utilizing conventional chock fittings, and wherein the winch uses a pushto-release or a lift-to-release dog to remove the harness tension.
Another object of the invention is to provide a vehicle hold-down system employing a pair of chocks retaining a vehicle tire wherein a flexible harness passing over the tire has opposite ends each affixed to a chock, one end being associated with tensioning means, while the other end utilizes a quick-release fitting readily attachable to and removed from a chock and of simplified economical construction, the configuration of the fitting reducing the likelihood of inadvertent disconnection from the associated chock but readily operable for release from the chock when desired.
A further object of the invention is to provide a vehicle hold-down system utilizing a pair of chocks with a vehicle tire having a flexible harness extending over the tire having ends attached to the chocks wherein the harness employs single end straps and a double strap basket located between the end straps contacts the tire, the basket straps being associated with the end straps through a Delta ring arrangement which uniformly divides the tension forces between the associated end straps and basket straps and maintains the harness straps in the desired orientation when the harness is either under tension or in a relaxed condition.
In the practice of the invention a pair of tire-engaging chocks are located upon opposite sides of the periphery of a vehicle pneumatic tire to prevent rolling of the tire upon a supporting deck, such as found on a railroad car, auto carrier truck, ship partition or the like. Such chocks restrain the vehicle wheels from rolling in either direction. The chocks are releasably attached to the supporting deck, and the chock construction, per se, forms no part of the instant invention.
A flexible harness formed of woven web material, such as nylon, or the like, capable of transmitting high tension forces extends over the upper circumference of the tire and includes a central region defining a basket engaging the upper portion of the tire, and two end straps each having an end affixed to the basket, and a free end. One of the strap free ends is associated with a winch or buckle reel mounted upon a chock wherein tension forces may be applied to the harness upon the winding of the strap upon the reel. The other harness end strap includes a fitting releasably attached to the other chock. Thus, the strap ends of the harness are anchored to the chocks and tensioning of the harness pulls the tire downwardly into firm engagement with the supporting deck and the associated chocks.
The chocks each include identical anchoring pins. One of the pins extend through a base plate defined in the tensioning buckle permitting the buckle to pivot thereon, and this relatively loose interconnection between the buckle and associated chock permits the buckle to readily align itself with the tension forces within the associated web strap end.
The other chock includes an identical anchor pin having a head and the strap end fitting includes a keyhole-type opening adapted to receive the anchor head and a reduced diameter portion or stem in which the pin stem is received. The fitting can only be removed from the anchor pin, or placed thereon, upon alignment of the larger fitting opening with the anchor head, and the configuration of the fitting is such that interference occurs with the associated chock to prevent release of the fitting from its pin unless the fitting is oriented in a particular manner to the associated chock and pin.
The harness includes a pair of parallel straps defining a basket, and a bridge member interconnects the central region of the basket straps. The ends of the basket straps are connected to Delta rings which are also connected to the inner ends of the harness end straps, and the use of the Delta rings aids in properly maintaining and orienting the basket straps relative to the tire during tensioning, and also aids in minimizing tangling of the harness components during storage and handling.
The buckle used to tension the harness is of a concise configuration preferably formed of stamped sheet metal components for purpose of economy and strength. The buckle includes a reel having unidirectional rotation under control of a spring biased dog or detent, and an actuating lever mounted upon the buckle retracts the dog from the reel ratchet teeth.
As will be later appreciated from the detailed description, the improved vehicle hold-down system achieves the desired objects at a minimum cost, and with apparatus readily operable with minimum skills.